| Did I mention Food?While the French are right into | | | | pretended nothing happened. It had no noticeable |
| nouvelle cuisine (in other words, not much for helluva | | | | effect on the wine which was quite good.We decided |
| lot) you can be certain that in an eastern European | | | | that we would have a good lunch, so headed to the |
| restaurant or cafe one meal and a side salad | | | | cafe that my wife, Brenda had spotted - mainly |
| between two people is more than enough.I really | | | | because of the cakes on show. It turned out to be |
| should have known after our Zagreb experience:* | | | | an Italian establishment, and, as we later discovered, |
| Great Indian Restaurant - Light meals with rice and | | | | highly regarded. The only off putting element was |
| wine and beer. Result: Full as a goog for under | | | | the proliferation of what appeared to be mafiosi |
| $AU50* Croatian Restaurant - Main meal and side dish | | | | tucking into - you guessed it - large portions of Italian |
| with water. Result: Full as a goog for under | | | | food. (as we walked around Sofia, we realised that |
| $AU25.We get into Sofia, Bulgaria and make our way | | | | just about all the men looked like gangsters!)Brenda |
| to what appears to be a trendy restaurant and bar. | | | | ordered a meal with a potato side dish, but I, wising |
| Admittedly, we probably got the wrong meal, but | | | | up to the very large meals, skipped the side meal |
| two big plates of cold meat and salad and one bottle | | | | and went with the main course. Lucky that. After |
| of wine (by appointment to the King of somewhere) | | | | going through 350 grams of Pork Milanese (they |
| later, we would have been knocked over by the | | | | mention the weight of all the foods on the menu - |
| price. That is, if we were able to get up after | | | | including the salads) in addition to what could be |
| cleaning up the plates.The price of less than $AU16 | | | | termed old style chips, I could not fit in another thing. |
| was a bargain even with the entertainment of the | | | | Except, of course, the "small" serving of bread which |
| establishment's owner trying to open the wine, then | | | | I don't know the weight of but guessed to be about |
| just about smashing it into the marble table as the | | | | half a kilo. It was beautiful bread, but I just could not |
| cork suddenly decided to part ways with the | | | | finish the last two bits.Was going to ask for a doggy |
| bottle.An elementary knowledge of physics would tell | | | | bag, but thought it was a bit rich as the swanky |
| any casual observer that when that moment arrived, | | | | place charged us about $AU30 -outrageous!Now that |
| the corkscrew hand was going to go up and the | | | | we are on the train to our eagerly anticipated Turkey |
| bottle hand was going to go down. Seeing the bottle | | | | leg (no pun originally intended, but why not) of the |
| hand was near the top of the bottle, there was no | | | | tour, we have the luxury of a litre of bottled water, |
| way of cushioning the bottom of the bottle from the | | | | a weird looking block of chocolate, two tic tacs (1 |
| impact of the marble only 5 centimetres below. As in | | | | orange and 1 mint) and a single piece of pizza the |
| a train wreck, I knew of the result but was | | | | size of Lichtenstein. We are in for a $AU4 |
| powerless to prevent it happening. They make | | | | feast.Vsichko hubavo to all.Raymond Strachan loves |
| bottles strong in Bulgaria, as the only breakage to be | | | | life and tries to give it 110% at least 91% of the |
| seen was the composure of the restauranteur. | | | | time. A quick look at the calculator will comfirm a |
| Fortunately, unlike Humpty Dumpty, he was able to | | | | 100% total. |
| put it all back together fairly quickly and we all | | | | |